Dreamgirls. More than meets the eyes.

Just back from watching Dreamgirls. Very enjoyable. Eddie Murphy acts, and Beyonce and Jennifer Hudson can really sing

But I left really wanting to see Transformers, for which there was a short preview.

The preview was preambled by Steven Speilberg and Michael Bay encouraging viewers to come and see the movie. They both finished with some very cute Japanese, which sounded not at all like they were reading it from a cue card, and didn't at all understand what they were saying. These promos by directors is a kind of weird thing which happens over here for big Hollywood films. They're kind of funny, because those who are usually behind the camera are a little befuddled when put in front of it. Although a wild-eyed Peter Jackson extolling Japanese to see King Kong was a tad scary.

I digress. The Transformers preview showed me all I needed to see to be convinced. Thankfully it gave very little away about plot, and even less about the visuals of the Transformers themselves. The smidgen that I did see made me go... WOW!

I've decided I'll watch no more previews about it until 4 August, when I intend to be first in line (although not to watch a preview). For a Michael Bay film, that's got to be a first. But I trust the bearded one's guiding hand.

Memoirs

Finished two books this week. Both were memoirs. One was more fictional than the other. I'll leave you to decide which was which.

Flashman's Lady is another in the Flashman series. As usual it was thoroughly anti-PC, and thoroughly hilarious.

Grinding It Out is the autobiography of Ray Kroc, the businessman who saw the potential of the McDonald's brothers' hamburger. As I've no interest in McDonald's or its products I've no idea why I picked it from amongst the Patricia Cornwells or Dan Browns that covered the bookshelf. But it was a really entertaining read. Especially Kroc's pre-McDonald's life. He didn't get into the hamburger business until he was in his 50s. Up until then he'd worked or was working several different jobs (paper cup seller/ real estate agent / pianist) during the depression and after. And this slice-of-life of the times was simply fascinating. I'd recommend the first half of the book to any GM who wants to get a feel for the era for their next gangbusters campaign. I'd recommend the second half to anyone who wants to found their own business empire.

My favorite quote - A man who represents himself has a fool for a lawyer.

Way of the Gun

I've disappeared into a new PSP game. It has the pithy title of Gun: Showdown. I bought it on the title alone. And also that it's in a wild west setting.

With nary a gay cowboy in sight, Colton White blasts his way around the territory bringing six-gun-, double barrel-, rifle-, dynamite-, tomahawk- etc.-justice to those who killed his father. A fair few good ol' boys who just happen to be causing mischief at the time get blown away, too.

But it also has many missions that aren't shooting. There's Texas Hold'em poker in the salon, runaway steers to be corralled, and even emergency medical supplies to be delivered by pony express. All in all it's been keeping me captivated.


The feature I really like is Colton's quick-draw ability. When he goes into quick-draw mode time slows down, allowing him to blast away at numerous bad guys. But it's limited by a meter which rapidly decreases. However the meter can be refilled by performing "Head Shots" (in the head, natch) or "Weapon Shots" (shooting a weapon out of the baddies hand). How wild west is that? I love watching the bad guys staggering around when they're shot. Teehee, look at 'em flail.

Gun reminds me a lot of From Russia with Love. I really enjoy shoot-em-ups that have a storyline. That was what eventually got me a little bored with Star Wars: Battlefront II. You could play endless battles, or even play a conquer the galaxy game, which is basically the same battles but with the added "thrill" of taking over the galaxy one battle at a time. However it leads to nothing. After conquering the galaxy, you receive a screen with the one word "Victory" printed in blue. What a let down.

Belated

Today is not Mari's birthday.

Nor was it yesterday.

It was actually 2 days ago, but we both got the date wrong and thought it was yesterday.

So we went out to dinner, and I gave her a blue Nintendo DS with kanji training software.

I thought these were a pretty safe bet for gifts, as about 6 weeks ago I bought the same for myself, but they promptly disappeared into her bag. I've held mine for a few minutes, and even used the excellent kanji software. But as I was forgetting what mine actually looked like, I thought the birthday gift would be a good plan to get mine back.

Happy Birthday Mari.

Hoist the skull & cossbones!

There is a gaming God. I went looking to find a swashbuckling PSP game, and what should I find? Only that the greatest pirate game of them all has come to the PSP. IGN gives the PSP version 9 out of 10. Avast, roger the cabin boy, and any other number of piratical non sequiturs. I be setting sail for Akiba in a purchasing frenzy.

Ewoks. Must. Die

Friday night turned into a very early Saturday morning. A few hours of troubled sleep where the dream was green intersecting lines (sniper's lasers) with red moving circles (enemy indicators). Saturday morning became Saturday night. It amounted to about 20 hours of continuous game play. And still they come.

I haven't had such a great day of game play since I played From Russia with Love through twice in succession. But I think it affects your perspective. When I looked at the ceiling it seemed to be swirling in and out of focus. It was definitely breathing in and out. Definitely.

Four of the eight stats are now "Legendary" (highest), two others at "Elite" (2nd highest), with the remaining two stuck on "Green". Although my sniping and demolition skills show no sign of improving, I've learned a few things along the way.

Dagobah is is a great level for stormtroopers. Turn the number of enemies up to 500% and prepare to fight, fight, fight. Keep running from one enemy CTP to the next enemy CTP to rack up big points.

Endor, with its respawning AT-STs is best for Heavy Weapons or Engineers. As an Imperial Engineer with "Legendary" technician skill there is nothing that can hurt you once you get an AT-ST to cruise around in. Burn, ewoks, burn.

Hoth is good for sniping (although I'm not good at it). Dial down the number of bots. I've found that teams of 4 or 5 (rather than the usual 10) works well. Don't go to 3 or less, because they may respawn in the AT-AT if Imperial, or hop in the snowspeeders if Rebel, and then you'll never get them out. With 4 or 5, even if this happens you'll still have 2 or 3 targets always available.

Surprisingly with half or less the number of enemies to a full-blown game, there are more sniping opportunities. With fewer characters on the map friends don't steal your kills with front on assaults while you're lining up the head shot. Also with fewer characters, bots have fewer opportunities to sense enemies, and so remain motionless longer. It becomes a little more cat and mouse, as sniping should.

If you're Rebel, don't bring a tauntaun to an AT-AT fight.